“Jonathan Collegio misspoke,” Rove said. “He immediately called Bozell and apologized. But look, Bozell — I respect him. He has done a lot of good things. The media center that he has does good work. But look, here’s a guy who called me a fake conservative, who called our efforts a failure, who distorted what we did. And yet, he turns around and starts crying crocodile tears when Jonathan Collegio says something he shouldn’t have said. But at least Collegio apologized for it. Bozell is out there calling me a fake conservative. Doesn’t matter to me, but it’s obviously not true.”

Rove added that the letter calling for Collegio’s termination was out of line, and dismissed criticism that he’s not a true conservative.

“That letter was harsh,” he said. “And it included some of the biggest backers of Todd Akin. It included a guy who called Ronald Reagan — told Ronald Reagan personally before the 1984 election, ‘You’re not a conservative,’ then supported two independent candidacies for president — who incidentally, the candidate in question did hire his firm to do his direct mail. I don’t need to be lectured by a guy who is a RINO, a Republican in name only. Ronald Reagan — telling him on the eve of his 1984 election, ‘You’re not a conservative’? I mean, please.”